Happy Birthday, Ulquiorra!
by ShiroMoon
Summary: It's his birthday and Ulquiorra Cifer is having one shitty day -Until Grimmjow turns up. It's amazing just how much a little love and affection from a significant other can help make you feel loved and wanted, even on the worst of days.-GrimmUlqui-


Snow fell softly from the sky outside the window. Ulquiorra Cifer sighed and tapped the desk once, his pale face resting against his palm, the tips of his fingers buried in his ebony hair, his emerald gaze brighter than usual as he gazed out the window.

He had a pensive look about him and every now and then a sigh would escape his lips. His finger lightly tapped at his desk and he sighed again. His head throbbed worse than before and he clenched his teeth. He turned his gaze to the other man in the room and said, "This is their final decision?"

"Yes. They said that they found someone better."

"Ah." Was Ulquiorra's only response and the blonde man sighed and said, "Cifer-san if I had my way you know I'd—"

"It doesn't matter." Ulquiorra said and he stood up and said, "I just have one more question. Are there any other reasons as to why they would choose this?"

"Your attitude mostly and your appearance isn't at all reassuring to some of the parents."

"Is that all?"

"Yes."

"I see. Goodbye then." And Ulquiorra turned and left the office, leaving Kisuke Urahara alone.

Ulquiorra kicked open the doors and walked outside into the cold, sighing once more. He knew this would happen sooner or later. Oh well, it wasn't like he had really wanted to teach Japanese to foreign students anyway. It had been a last minute resort and he had gotten the job.

He didn't really care.

It was a bit of bummer though; getting another job would be rather tricky. Ulquiorra stopped walking and sat down on a snow covered bench and stared up at the sky, snow lightly falling onto his coat and ebony hair.

He shivered but didn't stand up. Something about him felt…was it drained? Or was he depressed? He couldn't tell right now. He had felt like this since he got up this morning and he felt like he hardly had any energy, the feeling worsened and he still couldn't quite place his finger on it.

_Sitting here in the snow isn't going to make things better._

Ulquiorra straightened up and began to head home, shivering lightly. Ulquiorra stepped out into the street and tried to hail a taxi. All they seemed to do was drive past him. Ulquiorra tried for another minute and then gave up for all the cabs were full or off duty.

Ulquiorra hurried to the nearest bus station and waited, alone under the bus stop. A minute passed and Ulquiorra closed his eyes.

Nothing seemed to be working for him today.

Ulquiorra stood up and began to pace to attempt to warm himself up, he checked his watch and saw that it was nearly 7:00 at night. _At least they decided to give me one last day worth of teaching before they fired me. _Ulquiorra observed bitterly.

He heard a vehicle drawing closer and he looked hopefully over and saw a bus drive past the bus stop he sat under. Ulquiorra sighed and gave up and began to head home.

It was a thirty minute trudge through the snow to get to his small apartment and by the time he got there he was freezing. He was halfway across the slushy street towards his apartment building when he noticed the ugly, smelly, weird looking homeless man crouched on his door step, almost covered in snow.

Ulquiorra reached his front door and was about to reach into his pocket for his house keys when the homeless man said, "How about some change, sonny?" he asked in a croak of a voice.

"No." Ulquiorra said coldly and fumbled in his pocket for his keys, only to find they weren't there. _Wrong pocket? _Ulquiorra thought, trying not to panic as he realized that they weren't in the pocket he _always_ kept them in!

"How about some change sonny?" the old man asked again and Ulquiorra ignored him and searched his other pocket frantically—and found a hole—before checking his jean pockets. "How about some—?"

"Be quiet and move off my doorstep." Ulquiorra ordered before beginning to walk away, feeling the homeless man's gaze on his back as he began to search the snow for his keys.

_I must have left them back at the school…_ Ulquiorra thought moodily before proceeding all the way back towards his school but then he stopped. The school would be closed by now!

Ulquiorra sighed, his trademark frown deepening, and decided the best thing to do would be to call a locksmith. Ulquiorra dialed the number and sighed when he received no response. He tried to call again and then again. Nothing. At all.

_This is really highly bothersome._

There was only one solution left. He would have to break into his own five-story apartment.

It was too bad he lived on the fifth floor.

Really bad—seriously.

Ulquiorra trudged—gracefully—back to his building, stepped over the garden fence, and began to try and reach the fire escape. After a few attempts he managed to pull the fire escape down.

Opening the window was a problem and in the end Ulquiorra had had to punch the window and then give it a good strong kick in order to be able to get through.

He stumbled onto the floor and immediately sank into the sofa, exhausted from the walking, climbing, kicking and punching and over all stress the day had brought.

_I need to fix the window…_

Ulquiorra tried to stand but felt his body scream in protest. Had his sofa always been this comfortable? It was so warm and soft and…cuddly. Ulquiorra curled up into a ball on the sofa, a large red pillow beneath his head, feeling ready to fall asleep.

Ulquiorra shuddered violently and glanced over at the window. The wind was blowing right in and filling the room with cold. Ulquiorra groaned and straightened up.

He walked to the phone and dialed a number.

_We're sorry, your call cannot be answered right now; please try again later when we are less busy._

Ulquiorra tried again.

_We're sorry, your call—_

Ulquiorra slammed the phone down and sighed. This was not making his day any better.

* * *

Grimmjow cursed lightly as he slipped on a wet patch on the stairs and almost fell. He seized the railing and heaved himself back up and trudged up the stairs, his freezing hands tucked in his freezing pockets, a moody scowl on his face.

Grimmjow hastily checked an item in a wet plastic bag and sighed with relief that his fall hadn't damaged his gift in any way. He scowled when he realized he could still hear the homeless man singing all the way up here. "Shut the fuck up, you can't sing so just be quiet!"

Grimmjow knocked on Ulquiorra's door and called, "Ulqui? Ya in?"

When he received little to no response Grimmjow rang the door bell. Nothing. Grimmjow rang again and scowled. "Fine, I'll just let myself in then." He grumbled, pulling out a set of keys, a Gothic number six key chain shining dimly in the light from the lamps.

It was freezing inside Ulquiorra's apartment! Grimmjow cursed and hurried in before walking into the living and gasped when he saw that the window was broken! Grimmjow looked around the room, expecting to see burglars but instead was met with silence.

"No one broke in." Grimmjow looked towards the sofa and saw Ulquiorra lying on it, his back turned away from Grimmjow.

"Then why the hell is it in pieces?" Grimmjow asked, walking over to Ulquiorra.

"I cannot seem to find my keys. I had no choice."

"Ah, that sucks." were Grimmjow's words of sympathy.

"Indeed." Ulquiorra answered, staring at the green material of the couch in disinterest. Grimmjow frowned at Ulquiorra's behavior. It was a little unlike him.

Grimmjow set the box down on the table and turned to stare at Ulquiorra's back and said, "What's your problem? Tough day?"

"You could say that. I got fired."

"What?" Grimmjow exclaimed, his jaw dropping. "When?"

"After I finished my first lesson. Apparently they don't accept gay teachers."

Grimmjow was quiet, glaring at the floor, not entirely sure of what to say. "But you've been teaching there for three years! You can't tell me they just found out!"

"They did. Maybe they saw me with you at some point?"

"Oh great. Now it's my fault."

"I wasn't saying that."

Silence fell and Ulquiorra pushed himself up to face the blue haired man in front of him and Grimmjow could see in his eyes just what an effect the day had had on him. He looked very tired, angry and above all, stressed out.

Grimmjow scowled, saying grumpily but supportive, "The school is going to go down in an instant with you gone. They'll be sunk."

Ulquiorra's frown deepened and Grimmjow knew he possibly doubted he had done a good job. He was most likely not thinking very highly of himself at the moment.

Deciding to change the subject Grimmjow said, "I got a cake. Eat it if you want, don't blame me if it's a little crushed."

Ulquiorra looked up in surprise at the mention of 'cake' and Grimmjow jabbed his thumb over his shoulder at the plastic bag on the table. "What? Don't give me that look. You look like you didn't think I'd remember your birthday. Well I did. Shocking much?" Grimmjow added sarcastically, reddening a little when he realized how nice he sounded.

Ulquiorra curiously got up and opened the lid of the box and saw that it was a sweet smelling black and white cake. On the top, written in green were the words Happy Birthday Ulquiorra. Ulquiorra couldn't suppress a small smile. He felt touched. It felt good to know Grimmjow cared enough to do this for him.

"Thanks."

And Grimmjow could tell that he meant it and he smirked. "No problem. This is probably the shittiest birthday ever though because I completely fail at presents. I couldn't get anything for you—but it ain't my fault your so damn secretive and all." Grimmjow added defensively and Ulquiorra's mouth twitched.

"There was no need to go to such lengths anyway, I don't need presents nor do I want them."

Grimmjow scowled, letting out a soft 'tch' as he walked over, wrapping two warm arms around Ulquiorra's middle, his face nuzzled in the crook of his neck. "What, you don't appreciate my efforts?"

Grimmjow felt Ulquiorra lean back into him and heard a faint sigh escape him. "Damn you're hard to please." Grimmjow mumbled in between kisses gently placed on Ulquiorra's neck. Grimmjow frowned when he felt the stiffness in Ulquiorra's shoulders.

"Fuck your stiff, Ulqui—you need to relax. Hell if I'd been here you wouldn't have been _allowed_ to leave to go to that school!" Grimmjow grumbled, pressing the heels of his hands into Ulquiorra's shoulders, his thumbs pressing into the back of Ulquiorra's neck.

Ulquiorra's eyes widened when he felt the contact and he said sharply, "What are you doing?"

"Oh I'm just molesting you—I'm helping you get all this stiffness out of your freaking shoulders, Ulqui! You're like a board!" Grimmjow replied impatiently.

"I don't need—"

"I don't care, I want to! I haven't had you to myself all day!" Grimmjow argued lightly. "Now relax."

Grimmjow felt Ulquiorra's shoulder's tense and he jabbed his shoulder with his thumb. "Relax, birthday boy—Think of this as my present." Grimmjow added with a sudden idea. Ulquiorra turned his head and suppressed a shudder as Grimmjow's hands massaged his shoulders. Grimmjow realized how warm Ulquiorra was upon touching him; he could feel his warmth even through his clothing.

"Present?" Ulquiorra asked, leaning back into the touches, unwilling to admit just how comfortable and happy he was. He was feeling better.

Grimmjow gently placed kisses across Ulquiorra's shoulders and he felt Ulquiorra shudder at the new warmth added to his skin. Ulquiorra's hands clenched in his lap as he felt Grimmjow's hands moved harder against his skin and he gave a contented sigh.

Grimmjow was more encouraged when he heard a soft contented moan escape the other. Grimmjow chuckled. "Seems like you need this more than you'd like to admit."

Ulquiorra rested his head against Grimmjow's shoulder, sighing, closing his eyes and the corner of his mouth lifting. Grimmjow nuzzled his neck, a smile growing on his lips as he felt Ulquiorra angle his head so that they were almost cheek to cheek with each other.

Ulquiorra felt Grimmjow stop to possibly rest his thumbs and he opened his eyes when he felt the man completely walk away from him. Grimmjow reappeared in front of him and hastily claimed Ulquiorra's lips in a hungry kiss, a hand cupping Ulquiorra's cheek and another arm wrapping around his waist, ensuring he kept him there.

"I don't care what you say Ulqui," Grimmjow growled between kisses, "I want to celebrate today, so I'll start by saying," Grimmjow moved back to properly look at him, a wide grin on his face.

"Happy birthday, Ulquiorra."

Ulquiorra didn't think he could have stopped the small smile even if he had wanted too. He didn't know what to say. At all. Grimmjow was not this kind to him all the time and this was very rare coming from the other.

Ulquiorra looked the other in the eyes and put an arm around the back of the man's neck and pulled him down to kiss him properly, both of their eyes remaining open and staring into the others.

Ulquiorra took a moment to marvel at the beauty in those eyes, one of the things Ulquiorra liked the most about Grimmjow were his eyes. They were very expressive, always showing when he was angry, sad, or happy.

Ulquiorra moved away, his forehead resting against Grimmjow's. "Thanks. No one has ever said this to me before so I'm unsure of what to say."

"You don't have to say anything." Grimmjow mumbled, kissing Ulquiorra's neck. "So I guess you can shut up. I don't need a proper thank you at the moment." Grimmjow said idly, the hand on Ulquiorra's waist sliding further down to settle on Ulquiorra's ass.

Grimmjow used this hand to push them closer together and Ulquiorra fell against his chest. Ulquiorra melted into the embrace, sighing when Grimmjow tightened his arms around him. Ulquiorra felt Grimmjow rest his cheek against his head and heard the man sigh lightly.

Ulquiorra put his arms around Grimmjow's shoulders and he nuzzled the man's chest, a smile tugging at his lips when he felt Grimmjow kiss his hair, his hand rubbing gently at Ulquiorra's shoulders.

"Happy birthday Ulquiorra…" Grimmjow whispered a smile obvious in his voice and Ulquiorra closed his eyes. He wondered if it was possible to feel so loved, needed and touched all at the same time.

Grimmjow really couldn't possibly have any idea how much these actions and words meant to him right now.

They meant everything.

* * *

Happy Birthday Ulquiorra! *throws confetti*

Hope you and Grimmjow spend all day in bed with each other as your present! x3

I really wanted to write smut for this story but I just couldn't. I'm too new to smut to write it and I find it a little awkward, despite the fact that all thoughts of GrimmUlqui smut in my head are everything BUT awkward. O/O

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this sweet little, hopefully not shitty, story. I just had to do something to celebrate my favorite anime character's birthday! x3

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ULQUIORRA!

And goodnight. A play I am in opens tomorrow and I can't wait for that as well!

Goodnight! :D


End file.
